Is Facebook Even Worth The Time And Effort For Bloggers?

Every time I turn around, Facebook is kicking us bloggers in the teeth. Quite honestly, I’m at the point where I don’t know why I bother anymore.
The last few weeks, I have seen a slew of bloggers complaining that their links and/or comments were automatically being deleted by Facebook. WTH! Ok, so maybe some of those people deserve it because they go around to every group they belong to and drop the same links, over and over and over again. I get that. If you are that stupid, maybe you deserve to be deleted. But I have also seen really good bloggers, that engage with others, being shadow banned too.
I have had a steady decline of refers to my blog from Facebook over the past year. And although I am not opposed to boosting my posts, I have in the past, I am super pissed that if you want people to see your stuff nowadays, you pretty much have too.
Neither my followers, nor my friends for that matter, are guaranteed to see my stuff anymore. The percentage of people that actually see my posts in their feed is shocking. Liking a page means nothing. After growing my page for years, I am essentially seeing no more benefit from it than I did when I first started it.
Without constant attention, posting and engaging, it seems like a huge waste of time. Especially when you do manage to boost your reach, post one of your own links, then watch the engagement sharply plummet. What is the point of sharing great content and sending tons of traffic elsewhere when I see absolutely no pageviews back to me?
Am I being selfish? I don’t think so. I have no problem boosting and promoting other bloggers. But seriously, I’m not helping those bloggers either. When I share their posts, engagement drops too. It is only viral posts or huge websites that get the most reach. I can only assume that is because they spend the big bucks on Facebook.
Facebook is a very small percentage of my traffic refers. Like less than 2%. That’s pathetic. So why am I constantly trying to work it? I don’t know anymore. Is it time to drop it altogether and put my energy where it makes an impact? You tell me.

52 Comments

Hello Elena,
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on Facebook.
I quit Facebook about a year ago even before I started my blog. Now that I’m blogging, every now and again I re-consider if I should go back to Facebook. Many blogging articles I read talk about how great of a platform it is to find potential readers. But the cons of using it always stop me.

I’ve just resurfaced from the AtoZ and found your post Elena – and I COMPLETELY agree with you. I was late to the FB game with creating a page for my blog and have struggled to get followers. I have tried so many different things to increase engagement and nothing seems to stick. I share something cute and get hundreds of views and then share a post and get less than a hundred. Things I think people would like, FB won’t show to them so why bother? You can’t use it when you share to groups, you get no views unless you pay FB for the honour, and I’m tired of all the work. Mine might disappear in the not too distant future.

I must admit, I’ve never really dedicated enough time on my Facebook page. My audience seems to frequent Instagram and Pinterest, so that’s where I spend most of my effort. Aside from blog posts (and even then now my plugin has stopped working!) I’m sporadic at best. I’ve done a bit of boosting and seen very little ROI, so never bother unless I have a big push, like at Halloween.

“So why am I constantly trying to work it?” Facebook became a habit and possibly an addiction … that spoiled like roadkill and now it has rotted and stinks.
“I don’t know anymore. Is it time to drop it altogether and put my energy where it makes an impact? You tell me.”
Yes, I think it is time to leave Facebook, but from what I’ve read recently, once Facebook has your info, they never delete it. I read that if you want to leave Facebook and have your paged removed, Facebook will eventually just make it so you can’t see your page but the info on those who wanted out is still there being sold to corporations that want to know every aspect of who we are, and Facebook continues to spy on our internet activity gathering more info on all of us.
Facebook has become terminal cancer.

I’m so glad I read this. I spend the least amount of time on Facebook. I’ve pretty much given up 100% on Google+. As you promised me a few months ago, Pinterest is the way to go! It’s my top referrer. Used to me StumbleUpon but I still can’t figure that out and though I still get traffic from them, it’s not as much. Thank you for this post!

I ditched Facebook for good about two months ago. Not long after is when Facebook began appearing in all forms of news media regarding the sharing of members’ details. I am glad I left. It had gotten so boring and petty and just not how Facebook used to be when I first was convinced to join 8 or 9 years ago. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with FB for a while now, and honestly do not miss it. For now, WordPress is my only social media platform, and I am pretty happy with that.

great post. food for lots of thought. i read somewhere that we should concentrate on just one media platform. maybe blogging only is the go. i do fairly well on instagram, but it seems so transient. someone said to me to blog only once a month, but i blog weekly and post daily on my author page on FB. no-one much seems to see my FB posts. so i repeat important news on my personal page as well, but the same friends Like and Comment. no growth. it’s all so mystifying. boosting works. but i only boost if it relates directly to a new book release.

It’s a learning process for sure and finding out what works for you. I do believe concentrating on one platform works because honestly, who has time to balance all of them properly. Depending on your niche, growth takes time. Keep on doing what you’re doing and you never know when that one post will take off.

Thanks! What turns me off about FB is the way people have shot themselves in the foot by posting stupid things, then, an employer snoops on you and fires you all the while causing family feuds. And more that I’ve seen over the last few years. Oh heck no!!

FB may still have the biggest reach. It’s inability to protect user privacy is just vile. I left several years ago and won’t look back. FB has no problem lifting content and using people’s info in “like stories” where they will post that a random user likes a particular product, service or thing of any type. I realize that people still will post links to my posts through FB and that’s fine. I can live with that. I just refuse to devote any time to marketing my work via a platform that in my view, has long crossed ethical boundaries and done nothing to help users. I use Twitter and nothing else. Twitter has its’ faults but I appreciate that I can control the content I view on it.
@WriterDann

I’m with you, Elena. I still get enough traffic from FB that I’m not ready to completely ditch it, but I’ve cut back the time I spend on it. I do need to figure out Pinterest. I really like Linked In. It is a refreshing change from FB. I participate in some groups on FB that do seem to be worthwhile but as for posting and getting results – not so much.

Very interesting post and comments. Will Facebook exist in same format in 5 years – I have my doubts. I’m sticking with it at the moment but questioning the worth of devoting as much time to it. Thanks

Reblogged this on Suzie Speaks and commented:
Interesting post from Elena – I’ve certainly seen a massive drop in views on Facebook in the last few months. Please don’t like or comment on my reblog, hop on over to Elena and say hi!

I guess I use fb slightly differently.
I think almost every post of yours that I’ve loved, I’ve found via facebook groups. I don’t click on them because they are clickbait-y, I click on them because I remember your name and that I always enjoy your posts. I guess if you are part of a fb group (and you get involved regularly) it’s more of a friendship than just a way to get clicks for your blog. It’s probably not actually *that* helpful for blog view numbers!!
Anyway, I’m glad you take part, as I like your writing.

And there was me thinking that I was just crap! Thanks for this.
I may still be a crap blogger, but I get great feedback from those who HAVE found my posts, so maybe it’s worth keeping on. I didn’t post last week due to wondering if there was any point anymore (and I’m not even monitising, but even I don’t want to be talking only to mainly ether!).

Very irritating news about Facebook. You are right. The feedback has changed, from what was reasonable to almost nothing! Pinterest is a challenge to get going, but I managed it, and my followers are steadily growing. So far, it’s slow but sure, since I’m not joining groups yet, or enlisting Tailwind (which will have to wait). I took your course, Elena, and it did help, but the learning curve was steep!

Hi Elena! Interesting post as I know many are struggling with the decision of keeping Facebook or ditching it (business wise). Facebook and Twitter continue to be my biggest traffic generators. I don’t know what it is or how the Facebook one happens. I don’t participate in many groups and share to my business page and personal page. But I still see FB as a good resource for clientele and blog traffic. Maybe it’s more niche driven now?
Good food for thought. Now if I could only generate traffic from Instagram, I’d be loving life! 😉
Thanks for the share, girl!
B

Yep, I dropped Facebook two years ago and haven’t looked back. I get far better engagement on other social media platforms such as Twitter and Flipboard. Do I miss seeing photos of cute cats or having someone tell me they’re in Starbucks in Oxford Street? Nope.

I hate FB and have had nothing but problems with them. But I am new to blogging for monetization so I was under the impression that in order to obtain Sponsored Posts that FB is mandatory! ugh! Thank you for voicing this. It helps to know that others are sick of it too!

I totally agree with you! Facebook negligently let our personal information out to Cambridge Analytica. Yet I’ve been banned (seemingly forever) from boosting posts because of one negative comment. I’m getting more traffic from LinkedIn and Pinterest than I ever received from Facebook!

I think it’s time! Facebook made us leave them, and instead of questioning why they are losing a lot of people, they continue to concentrate on the money that big sites/companies pay for advertising! It’s no longer a social media, it’s a money-making scam

I have to agree with you, Elena, I’ve seen a huge drop in Facebook, on my FB blog page (when I was blogging consistently), and in my personal FB. I will only keep the personal FB account for keeping up with relatives. Pinterest is useless as far as I am concerned, but glad it works for others. Since I’ve been on my blogging break, I’ve been posting on Instagram almost daily and growing that account, but seems like all these social media sites are inundated with businesses and ads. Frustrating! When I get back to blogging, I’m happy to do it as a hobby, for entertainment and connecting with other bloggers.

Thank you for this. I recently put a page together, and shortly thereafter the news re political shenanigans hit. The constant boost nags irk me. Since I’ve always deemed FB a necessary evil, at best, I started researching its true usefulness to bloggers. For now, the page lives in name only. I’ll make a final decision about deletion Memorial Day. During the interim, I’ll track carefully. I strongly suspect I’ll confirm – not worth the effort or headache.

I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago. “I’m Not An Algorithm”
To me, If a pay to boost and then gain a follower, then the person agreed to see my posts. But we you and I know that is not so. But what annoys me the most is when I boost a meme for a blog or weekly feature and then have them tell it has too many words versus picture and won’t reach as many as they boasted it would. What bunk. It’s censorship plain and simple.

Yes – thank you so much for writing this! Facebook referral traffic has been so slow recently and it just seems to slide constantly. I am so glad you’ve written this, I thought I might be the only one!

FB and Pinterest are my biggest referrers. But I don’t see stuff I genuinely like unless I search it out, which is kinda not the point. I sign up for newsletters and post alerts (like yours) because I don’t want to miss it in the infinite scroll of doomcrap.

I always read your posts via my email, I never see them on FB even though I know I’m in your FB group and follow your page. I get no interaction from FB outside of my own group usually… I suppose it’s useful to have a page just in case something takes off but other than that I can see why you’re frustrated

Elena, Many bloggers say that it brings them a huge traffic and then there are others who swear by Pinterest. I guess it’s difficult to generalize. What’s your opinion on bringing traffic to the blog? Which social media? Twitter is already dead on bringing traffic unless you have viral content.

Facebook groups are ok but you only get traffic if you participate. That’s time heavy. When I get thousands a day from Pinterest for very little effort and maybe 30 from a Facebook group for much more, it seems like a no-brainer.

HELLO!

Elena Peters is a midlife woman who redefined her life after quitting her upper management job just before her 50th birthday. She reached for the stars and followed her passion for blogging. In three short years, her blogs have amassed more than 4 million pageviews!

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